Medicine cabinet article holder or caddy



April 5, 1966 A. H. SCHRETER ,244,288

MEDICINE CABINET ARTICLE HOLDER OR CADDY ,F'iled NOV. 12, 1964 Llfg: HG 5 INVENTOR. g1 Alma 0607257512 ATTORNEYS.

April 5, 1966 A. H. SCHRETER 3,244,288 MEDICINE CABINET ARTICLE H Filed Nov. 12, 1964 OLDER OR CADDY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

A; #421 0 ja/ezrze ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Office- 3, 44,2 3 Patented Apr.- 5, 1966 3,244,288 MEDI CINE ABINET ARTMLE HOLDER (IR CADDY ArnoidHarvey Schreter, 3310 Labyrinth Road, Baltimore, Md. Filed NOV.'12, 1964, her. No. 419,622 9 Claims. ((ll. 211-74) The present invention relates to a, holder or caddy for medicine cabinet articles.

At present in generally all households medicine cabinets are employed to hold various toilet articles. The articles range in size from 1% inch long packages of razor blades to 8 or 9 inch long tubesof toothpaste, shampoos, rattail combs or the like. Some of the articles are in cylindrical form, such as lipstick containers or holders, eyebrow pencils, or plastic pill bottles.

It is a common nuisance to have such articles stored in the, cabinet in a jumbled condition on each other or mixed with other shaped articles so that when the medicine cabinet door is opened, some of the articles leave the jumble andtend to roll forwardly out of the cabinet.

Furthermore, because of the variety of articles stored in the cabinet, but used at least once a day by the household members, the appearance of the cabinet interior leaves much to be desired, is cluttered in appearance, and requires frequent cleaning, and straightening up so that the toilet articles are maintained in some degree of order and cleanliness.

An object of the present invention is to provide a holder or caddy for most of the articles found in the average household medicine cabinet, the holder or caddy providing a neat and pleasant appearance within the cabinet interior when holding the articles, the holder or caddy holding the articles in a desirable position such as lipstick or pill bottles in an upright condition, razor blade packages lying fiat on the bottom of the caddy, eyebrow pencils being held vertically at one end of the caddy and toothpaste and tubes anchored with their ends held by the floor of the caddy so that they remain upright no matter if other articles are inserted into or removed from the caddy.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a medicine cabinet article holder or caddy which may be manufactured from wire, sheet metal, glasspanels or strip plastic, or may be molded from plastic or may be fabricated on molding machines of conventional make, and one which lends itself to manufacture at reasonable cost.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a toilet article holder or caddy which is unique in style and appearance, and one which lends itself to cleaning with ease and facility.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the holder according tothe present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view on a reduced scale taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of a form of the invention similar to that shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 but with a modified bottom.

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5- of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective'view of still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a view on a reduced scale taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a view taken on-the line 8-8 of FIG- URE 6 and on a reduced scale.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of still a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 10 is a view taken on the line 10-10 of FIGURE 9, and

FIGURE 11 is a view taken on the line 11-11 of-FIG- URE 10.

Referring in detail to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, in FIGURES l and 2 a first form of the invention is shown in which there is an upright housing designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and including a front wall 12, a back wall 14, a first end wall 16-, and" a second end wall 18 spaced from the firstend wall 16.

The housing 10 has an open top and a bottom 20 and is formed of welded wire rods or may be formed from plastic rods curved at the corners and spotwelded together in the conventional manner.

An extension housing or enclosure ZZ'is disposed ext-eriorly of and adjacent to the end wall 18, and the upper end ofthe enclosure 22 is lower than the upper end of the housing 10. i

The bottom 2% extends through to the end of the end of the enclosure 22 and the side rods 24'and 26' of the housing 10 are also the side and end rods of the enclosure 22. The bottom 20is fabricated of longitudinally extending bars 28 having their ends secured to the end members 30 and 32 by spotwelding or the like.

A partition, consisting of bars 34', 36- and 38, arranged in vertical spaced relation, extends from the front wall 12 to the back wall 14 inwardly of and adjacent the end wail 16. The partition, designated generally by the reference numeral 40, which may be made from pre-cut strips welded into the desired position, subdivides the interior of the housing 10 into a narrow first compartment and a main compartment larger than the first compartment.

Spotwelded to the corner of the housing and enclosure 22 are ball type of feet which are preferred in this embodiment although the feet may be of another nature as at 42 giving the device of the present invention a neat and'attractive appearance for the purpose intended.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 3-5, inclusive, the housing 10 is unaltered and isrepresented by the. numeral 10' with the exception that a corrugated plate 44 is substituted for the rods 28in the bottom of the housing 10'. Slots 4-5 in the bottom of the corrugations facilitate drainage.

With reference to the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 6-8, inclusive, the housing 10" is fabricated of one piece by molding out of plastic or glass or other material suitable for molding or may be made from metal and has the same shape as that previously described with reference to the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. As shown in FIGURE 7, the bottom 26' of the housing It)" is corrugated and may, if desired, also have drainage slots 47. This form of the invent-ion can be used where the expense of manufacturing is of prime importance.

The feet 46 are molded onto the bottom of the housing 10" and are formed integrally therewith.

A partition 4d extends from the front wall 48 to the back Wall 59 and subdivides the interior of the housing 1%" into a long narrow compartment and a large compartment substantially rectangular in configuration. In this form of the invention larger compartments may easily be made. Projecting outwardly from the end wall 52 is an extension or enclosure 22' of a height smaller than the height of the housing 10".

In FIGURES 9-11, inclusive, a fourth and final embodirnent of the invention is shown in which the housing 10" is fabricated of slats as at 5'4 where the partition of slats 56 subdividing the interior into a narrow compartment and a large compartment. An extension or enclosure 22" projects from one end of the housing and serves the same purpose as the enclosures 22 and 22.. The form of the invention shown in FIGURES 9-11, also has a corrugated floor or plate 53 having drainage slots 59 and feet 60 molded at each corner and formed integrally with the housing 10". The floor may also be made from plastic strips.

The holder or caddy for a medicine cabinet in its several forms, is convenient for supporting eyebrow pencils on ends in the narrow end compartment and supporting toothpaste tubes with their bottom ends resting in one of the openings in the strip floor or grooves of the corrugated floor. This keeps each of the tubes upright and assures that there is a neat appearance to the caddy when filled with toilet articles. Such things that are bifurcated as eyebrow tweezers and the like may be placed in a straddle condition on any one of the walls as desired. The low walled extension or enclosure on the one end serves adequately to contain pill bottles or lipstick tubes formed of plastic, glass, or the like. Other pill bottles containing pills that are inherently dangerous to children may be contained in the larger compartment where they are not so easily reachable as in the enclosure at the end, or an additional section may be constructed having a hinged door or section to conceal the items therein.

The caddy of my invention will find a practical application to builders of medicine cabinets who may find it desirable to use my caddy in constructing their medicine cabinets. When so constructed in medicine cabinets the caddies may be permanently affixed to the medicine cabinets.

Although I have illustrated merely a few sections to my caddy these caddies may be formed with a multiplicity of sections either horizontally or vertically so that the caddies will thereby provide more space for the various toilet articles and medicines normally retained Within such medicine cabinets.

I prefer to make thecaddies from plastic whereby the strips may be molded into the desired prefabricated shapes and then fused together in the normal manner. The caddies, however, may be made from metal, or glass or any readily workable material.

Other uses will be found for the caddy of the present invention and it is intended that while preferred embodiments of the invention are here shown and described other embodiments maybe made'in practice as found practical, and that numerous changes and modifications may be made in the invention without department from the spirit thereof as set forth in the appended claims,

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet article holder comprising an upright housing having a front wall, a back wall, spaced end walls, a substantially horizontal floor, and an open top, a vertically disposed partition having a horizontal top extendin g transversely across said housing from said front Wall to said back wall and of a height equal to said front and back walls and spaced inwardly from one of said end walls, said partition subdividing the interior of said housing into a narrow first compartment adapted to hold relatively thin, upright articles and a main second compartment, the floor of said compartments being perforate, an extension enclosure formed exteriorly of and adjacent to the other of said end Walls, having front and rear walls comprising extensions of said first mentioned front and rear walls and a floor comprising a continuation of said first mentioned floor, said housing and said enclosure being formed integrally, the upper end of said enclosure being horizontal and below the top of said housing.

2. The structure according to claim 1 in which said bottom, front and back walls, said end walls, said partition, and the walls of said enclosure are reticulated.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said bottom, front and back walls, said end Walls, said partition, and the walls of said enclosure are solid.

4. The toilet article holder of claim 2 wherein said reticulated walls are formed from plastic'material.

5. The toilet article holder of claim 1 wherein the floor of said compartments and enclosure is corrugated.

6. The toilet article holder of claim 1 wherein the floor of said compartments is formed from open strips.

7. The toilet article holder of claim 1 wherein said housing is made from glass.

8. The toilet article holder of claim 2 wherein said reticulated walls are formed from metal.

9. The structure of claim ll wherein a ball type foot is positioned on the underside of each corner of said floor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 570,972 11/1896 Wallis 312-l17 914,421 3/1909 Jones 211 1,205,769 11/1916 McGill 220-19 2,067,830 1/1937 Depen 312229 X 2,486,83 8 11/1949 Goldstrom 2207 3 2,555,102 6/1951 Anderson 224-48 2,635,027 4/1953 Rasmussen 3 l2229 2,948,433 8/ 1960 Fineo 220-102 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner. 

1. A TOILET ARTICLE HOLDER COMPRISING AN UPRIGHT HOUSING HAVING A FRONT WALL, SPACED END WALLS, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL FLOOR, AND AN OPEN TOP, A VERTICALLY DISPOSED PARTITION HAVING A HORIZONTAL TOP EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID HOUSING FROM SAID FRONT WALL TO SAID BACK WALL AND OF A HEIGHT EQUAL TO SAID FRONT AND BACK WALLS AND SPACED INWARDLY FROM OF OF SAID END WALLS, SAID PARTITION SUBDIVIDING THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING INTO A NARROW FIRST COMPARTMENT ADAPTED TO HOLD RELATIVELY THIN, UPRIGHT ARTICLES AND A MAIN SECOND COMPARTMENT, THE FLOOR OF SAID COMPARTMENTS BEING PERFORATE, AN EXTENSION ENCLOSURE FORMED EXTERIORLY OF AND ADJACENT TO THE OTHER OF SAID END WALLS, HAVING FRONT AND REAR WALLS COMPRISING 